Title 71, Labor and Industry

Every employer who has secured compensation under the provisions of this chapter shall keep notices posted in a conspicuous place or places in and about his place or places of business, in accordance with a form prescribed by the commission, stating that such employer has secured…

(1) Any employer required to secure the payment of compensation under this chapter who fails to secure such compensation is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for …

(1) There is hereby created a commission to be known as the workmen’s compensation commission, consisting of three (3) members, who shall devote their entire time to the duties of the office. The governor shall appoint the members of the commission, by and with the consent of the…

(1) The Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission Building in Jackson, Mississippi, shall be renamed the “Liles Williams Workers’ Compensation Building.” (2) The Department of Finance and Administration shall prepare or have prepared a distinctive plaque, to be placed in a pro…

Members of the commission shall give bond in the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) of a surety company authorized to do business in the state, for the faithful performance of their duties. The premium upon such bonds shall be paid out of the workmen’s compensation administ…

The commission shall have a seal for authentication of its orders, awards, and proceedings, upon which shall be inscribed the words “workmen’s compensation commission-Mississippi-seal,” and it shall be judicially noticed.

(1) Except as provided under subsection (2) of this section, the liability of an employer to pay compensation shall be exclusive and in place of all other liability of such employer to the employee, his legal representative, husband or wife, parents, dependents, next of kin, and …

Commissioners and employees of the commission shall receive their necessary traveling expenses and costs of subsistence while traveling on official business and away from their designated station. Expense accounts shall be sworn to by the person presenting them and, upon approval…

The commission shall appoint such officers and employees as are necessary adequately to administer the Workers’ Compensation Law, including not more than eight (8) administrative judges to be appointed by the commission with the consent of the Governor and an executive director w…

(1) The commission shall make such expenditures as may be necessary for the adequate administration of this chapter, including salaries and traveling expense, the cost of personal services, office rent at the seat of government and elsewhere, the purchase of books, periodicals, o…

All civil penalties provided in this chapter, if not voluntarily paid, may be collected by civil suit brought by the commission, and shall be paid into the State General Fund.

(1) The commission shall estimate annually in advance the amounts necessary for the administration of this chapter, in the following manner:(a) The commission shall, as soon as practicable after the first day of January in each year, determine the expense of administration of thi…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Mississippi Employment Security Law.” The purpose of the law is to promote employment security by increasing opportunities for placement through the maintenance of a system of public employment offices and to provide through th…

A. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:A. “Base period” means the first four (4) of the last five (5) completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual’s benefit year.B. “Benefit year” with respect to any individua…

(1) The department is hereby authorized to enter into arrangements with the appropriate agencies of other states or the federal government, whereby individuals performing services in this and other states for a single employing unit under circumstances not specifically provided f…

Benefits shall be deemed to be due and payable under this chapter only to the extent provided in this chapter and to the extent that moneys are available therefor to the credit of the unemployment compensation fund; and neither the state nor the commission shall be liable for any…

(1) In any civil action to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the commission, the board of review, and the state may be represented by any qualified attorney who is employed by the commission and is designated by it for this purpose or, at the commission’s request, by the at…

(1) Whoever makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false, or knowingly fails to disclose a material fact, to obtain or increase any benefit or other payment under this chapter or under an employment security law of any other state, of the federal government or…

The legislature reserves the right to amend or repeal all or any part of this chapter at any time; and there shall be no vested private right of any kind against such amendment or repeal. All the rights, privileges, or immunities conferred by this chapter or by acts done pursuant…

As a guide to the interpretation and application of this chapter, the public policy of this state is declared to be as follows: Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of this state. Involuntary unemployment is …

The Legislature finds and declares that the existence and continued operation of a federal tax upon employers, against which some portion of the contributions required under this chapter may be credited, will protect Mississippi employers from undue disadvantages in their competi…

If at any time the provisions of this chapter requiring the payment of contributions and benefits shall be held invalid under the Constitution of this state by the Supreme Court of this state or invalid under the United States Constitution by the Supreme Court of the United State…

Refunds provided under Sections 71-5-5 and 71-5-7 shall not be subject to any provisions of law requiring specific appropriations or other formal release by state officers of moneys in their custody.

There is established the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Office of the Governor. The Department of Employment Security shall be the Mississippi Employment Security Commission and shall retain all powers and duties as granted to the Mississippi Employment Security C…

The department shall administer this chapter through a full-time salaried executive director, to be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall be responsible for the administration of this chapter under authority delegated to him by the Governo…

There is created a Board of Review consisting of three (3) members to be appointed by the executive director. The executive director shall designate one (1) member of the Board of Review as chairman. Each member shall be paid a salary or per diem at a rate to be determined by the…

There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Employment Security Administration Fund. All monies which are deposited or paid into this fund are appropriated and made available to the department. All monies in this fund shall be expended solely for the …

All funds received by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall clear through the State Treasury as provided and required by Sections 71-5-111 and 71-5-453. All expenditures from the administration fund of the department authorized by Section 71-5-111 shall be expen…

All monies received from the Social Security Board or its successors for the administration of this chapter shall be expended solely for the purposes and in the amounts found necessary by the Social Security Board or its successors for the proper and efficient administration of t…

There is created in the State Treasury a special fund, to be known as the “Special Employment Security Administration Fund,” into which shall be deposited or transferred all interest, penalties and damages collected on and after July 1, 1982, pursuant to Sections 71-5-363 through…

It shall be the duty of the executive director to administer this chapter; and the executive director shall have the power and authority to adopt, amend or rescind such rules and regulations, to employ such persons, make such expenditures, require such reports, make such investig…

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security will develop an annual report which tracks data received from contractors. Contractors will cooperate with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to accumulate relevant data. Collected data and reports are intended sole…

General rules may be adopted, amended or rescinded by the executive director only after public hearing or opportunity to be heard thereon, of which proper notice has been given. General rules shall become effective ten (10) days after filing with the Secretary of State and public…

The department shall cause to be available for distribution to the public the text of this chapter, its regulations and general rules, its reports to the Governor, and any other material it deems relevant and suitable, and shall furnish the same to any person upon application the…

Subject to other provisions of this chapter, the executive director is authorized to appoint, fix the compensation, and prescribe the duties and powers of such officers, accountants, attorneys, experts and other persons as may be necessary in the performance of department duties;…

The executive director shall retain all powers and duties as granted to the state advisory council appointed by the former Employment Security Commission. The executive director may appoint local advisory councils, composed in each case of an equal number of employer representati…

The department shall take all appropriate steps to reduce and prevent unemployment; to encourage and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational training, retraining and vocational guidance; to investigate, recommend, advise and assist in the establishment and opera…

(1) Any information or records concerning an individual or employing unit obtained by the department pursuant to the administration of this chapter or any other federally funded programs for which the department has responsibility shall be private and confidential, except as othe…

(a) Records hereinafter designated, which are found by the department to be useless, may be disposed of in accordance with approved records control schedules.(a) Records which have been preserved by it for not less than three (3) years:(1) Initial claims for benefits,(2) Continue…

All letters, reports, communications, or any other matters, either oral or written, from the employer or employee to each other or to the department or any of its agents, representatives or employees, which shall have been written, sent, delivered or made in connection with the r…

In any case where an employing unit or any officer, member or agent thereof, or any other person having possession of the records thereof, shall fail or refuse upon demand by the department or its duly appointed agents to produce or permit the examination or copying of any book, …

If any employing unit fails to make any report required by this chapter, the department or its authorized agents shall give notice to such employing unit to make and file such report within fifteen (15) days from the date of such notice. If such employing unit, by its proper memb…

In the discharge of the duties imposed by this chapter, the department, any referee, the members of the Board of Review, and any duly authorized representative of any of them shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, to take depositions, certify to official acts, and…

In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person, any court in this state within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on, or within the jurisdiction of which the person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or transacts busi…

No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books, papers, correspondence, memoranda and other records before the department, the Board of Review, any referee, or any duly authorized representative of any of them, or in obedience to the subpoena of …

In the administration of this chapter, the department shall cooperate, to the fullest extent consistent with the provisions of this chapter, with the Social Security Board created by the Social Security Act, approved August 14, 1935, as amended; shall make such reports in such fo…